VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $2.69 Million in Pegasystems Inc. $PEGA

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 49,600 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,685,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PEGA. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Pegasystems during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,396,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Pegasystems by 100.9% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 196,065 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,492,000 after buying an additional 98,468 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Pegasystems by 60.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 240,225 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,003,000 after buying an additional 90,404 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Pegasystems by 961.0% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 43,490 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after buying an additional 39,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its position in Pegasystems by 244.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 12,345 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 8,756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.89% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Rifat Kerim Akgonul sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.97, for a total value of $227,880.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 70,717 shares in the company, valued at $4,028,747.49. This trade represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Larry Weber sold 2,636 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.98, for a total transaction of $150,199.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,632 shares in the company, valued at $605,811.36. This represents a 19.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 132,607 shares of company stock worth $7,644,274 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 50.10% of the company’s stock.

Pegasystems Trading Up 4.1%

Pegasystems stock opened at $57.05 on Wednesday. Pegasystems Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.84 and a 1 year high of $61.00. The company has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a PE ratio of 48.97 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $55.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.96.

Pegasystems (NASDAQ:PEGA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Pegasystems had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The company had revenue of $384.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Pegasystems Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Pegasystems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 1st. Pegasystems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PEGA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pegasystems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Pegasystems from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Pegasystems in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Pegasystems from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.50.

Pegasystems Profile

Pegasystems Inc develops, markets, licenses, hosts, and supports enterprise software in the United States, rest of the Americas, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company provides Pega Infinity, a software portfolio comprising of Pega Customer Decision Hub, a real-time AI-powered decision engine to enhance customer acquisition and experiences across inbound, outbound, and paid media channels; Pega Customer Service to anticipate customer needs, connect customers to people and systems, and automate customer interactions to evolve the customer service experience, as well as to allow enterprises to deliver interactions across channels and enhance employee productivity; and Pega Platform, an intelligent automation software for increasing efficiency of clients’ processes and workflows.